"2 Peter 3, Jude, John 1-3"
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Fall is baking season, when we fill our homes with the aroma of pies and cookies. It's a fun time, but have you ever forgotten a key ingredient in a recipe you've made? Maybe you've left out the eggs, flour, salt, or yeast in your cake, bread, or cookie batter — the result: lackluster at best.
This week in our readings, we'll find Peter, Jude, and John describing those who've missed a crucial ingredient in their faith. And the results: eternally disastrous!
Missing God's Promise
On Monday (2 Peter 3), Peter reminds us of promises made long ago (2 Peter 3:1-2). He warns that "scoffers will come in the last days" questioning whether God will ever return to judge the world (2 Peter 3:3-7). But God operates on a different timetable than we do (2 Peter 3:8-10)! And since he'll judge us on some unknown day, we must stay ready with "holiness and godliness" (2 Peter 3:11-13).
How does God's patience change the work you do today?
Missing Reverence
Then on Tuesday, we jump to Jude's brief but powerful letter. He warns that "certain people have crept in unnoticed" and introduced contrary ideas to Christ (Jude 4). "These people blaspheme all that they do not understand" and have no reverence for God or his angels (Jude 8-10). He describes them as "waterless clouds," "fruitless trees," and "wild waves of the sea" (Jude 12-13).
But on Wednesday, as we begin John's gospel (John 1), we’ll contrast these false teachers with powerful statements of reverence and honor about Jesus.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made" (John 1:1-3).
Then we meet another John — John the Baptist — as he says to Jesus, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29). And as Jesus calls his first disciples after his baptism, we find Andrew telling his brother, "’We have found the Messiah’ (which means Christ)" (John 1:41), and Nathaniel saying, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" (John 1:49).
- What should we do about people who try to divide the church?
- Would you have responded to Jesus with such reverence if you had met him as these men did?
Missing Belief
On Thursday (John 2), after performing his first miracle by turning water into wine at a wedding (John 2:1-12), he faces his first opposition from the Jews in the temple. He turned over the moneychangers' tables and cleaned out the house of the Lord, but the people wanted a sign to show his authority. Jesus answered, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" (John 2:19), which caused quite a bit of confusion (John 2:20)!
Finally, on Friday (John 3), we watch as a Pharisee named Nicodemus secretly meets with Jesus by night. He calls him "Rabbi" (or Teacher), and then listens as Jesus teaches him precisely what he needs to hear: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). He explains God's great love for humanity (John 3:16), and that anyone who doesn't believe in the Son of God cannot be saved (John 3:18).
- What areas of your life need "cleaning out" as Jesus did in the temple?
- How does the most famous passage in the whole Bible (John 3:16) change your view of God?
